Tough Love
by angellwings
Summary: CJ makes some observations about Josh and Donna. Set after "Gaza" and references "No Exit".
1. The Prediction

**A/N: **This drabble is placed in the timeline after "Gaza" and makes heavy references to "No Exit" in season 5. There may be more of CJ's observations on Josh and Donna after this one depending on how inspiration strikes.

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Tough Love

By angellwings

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CJ didn't mean to sound cruel to Donna during the drill. Donna had already outgrown her job. The only thing keeping her here was Josh. He didn't want her to leave and she didn't want to leave him. But it wasn't professional courtesy that kept them together and everyone knew it. Donna needed a job that had nothing to do with Josh. It was in her best personal and professional interest. She couldn't be in love with Josh _and_ work for him at the same time.

That would never work.

She'd wanted to tell Josh the exact same thing for years.

She had planned to address the issue with Donna again and apologize for her tone, but she'd run out of time before Donna left for Gaza. She'd been debating confronting Josh when the unthinkable happened. Once it was clear Donna was at risk CJ knew she would need to let it go for a little while.

She'd never seen Josh so distraught. The fact that he was willing to drop everything to be there for her said more than he realized. He'd never even played _hooky_ for a woman before. Work had always come first with the women in his life, but not with Donna. Things had always been different with Donna.

CJ remembered the day Donna stormed their campaign headquarters and declared herself Josh's assistant. She hadn't known Josh very well then but even she could see that he was inexplicably protective of this woman he'd just met. She didn't find out about Donna's ex-boyfriend until Donna left the campaign a few weeks later. Josh had been frazzled and more than a bit angry but when Donna returned he'd covered it well. And, surprisingly to CJ, been a gentleman about it.

Somehow that moment cemented their bond. Tension and chemistry slowly grew from there. She'd first noticed it at a party the campaign staff threw. It was one of those 'we've been working 48 hours straight and need to blow off steam' parties. It was a very casual event with lots of talking and lots of drinking. For the first time that night Sam and Donna had an actual conversation. It was very friendly but not flirtatious. Well, unless you were observing from Josh's corner of the room.

To this day, she's the _only_ one who noticed Josh's subtle glares and scoffs at the two of them. He was careful not to let Donna or Sam notice and it faded away a few weeks later when he realized neither Sam nor Donna were interested in each other.

But CJ had noticed and the Josh-Donna Saga had been on her radar ever since.

Slowly but surely everyone else began to notice as well. She'd had more questions from the Staff regarding Josh and Donna than she'd ever gotten on matters of State. The questions had really picked up their pace in the last two years which was a sure sign to her that something was about to break. Josh and Donna were starting to realize just _how_ close they were.

That's why CJ had been short with Donna or part of the reason. Donna questioning her relationship with Ben hadn't helped. At this point, tough love was required if they were ever going to make any progress. Either their professional relationship was going to end or their personal one would. CJ would much rather see the professional relationship be the casualty than the personal one. Josh and Donna were much too well suited for each other to not be personally acquainted.

What Donna and Josh needed was a little tough love and no one was better at that than a White House Press Secretary.


	2. The Explosion

**A/N: **There may be more of these down the road, if the muses are kind, but for now this is the last one. Set not long after "Impact Winter" in Season 6. Enjoy!

angellwings

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Tough Love

By angellwings

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After Gaza everything changed and CJ ran out of time. Chief of Staff was a twenty-four-seven job. No time to lecture Josh on all the ways he was holding Donna back or Donna on all the ways she was letting him. No time to council Donna on her job search or Josh on the right man for the White House next year.

No time to realize the explosion she predicted was impending. Donna had mentioned she was trying to talk to Josh about something, but she and CJ had been interrupted before she could hear why. When she finally got time to breath, Josh walked through the door.

"Donna quit," he said simply.

CJ's eyes widened. "When?"

"Before I went to Houston."

"You're going to tell me why you went to Houston, right?" CJ asked with a curious look.

"She quit, CJ," Josh said as if she hadn't heard him.

CJ sighed. "So you said."

"She got another job."

"Good for her."

"CJ," Josh said softly. "She left."

"Yes, she did," CJ answered gently. "Josh, did you expect her to be your assistant for the rest of your life? Donna is a capable intelligent woman who wants to make a difference in the world. Surely, you knew she'd eventually want to grow into her _own_ career."

Josh didn't speak. He merely stared at his shoes.

"Is this about her moving on or about her moving on without you?" CJ asked suspiciously.

His silence was answer enough.

"Have you called her?" CJ asked.

"Can't," he said with a sigh.

"Wow, that's a totally new brand of cowardice, Lyman. How did she quit? She said she'd been trying to arrange a lunch with you. How did that go?" CJ asked.

"It didn't. I had to keep pushing it back," he said as he avoided her eyes. "She quit in the hallway as I was leaving for a meeting."

"Because you kept pushing back a lunch with her?"

"I _had_ to. We had a lot going on."

"You would have made time for Donna if you wanted to and you know it," CJ said in a stern tone. "You knew what she was going to talk to you about. You were avoiding it."

"I would never have found a better assistant than her and I don't have time to train one," Josh admitted.

"Assistant? You avoided the lunch before you didn't want to look for another assistant?" CJ asked incredulously.

"Yes," Josh lied.

"That's the story you're sticking with?" CJ asked in disbelief.

He nodded and she chuckled darkly.

"Okay, keep trying to convince yourself of that if you want, but everyone knows that Donna has _never_ been just your assistant. It's about time you faced up to it too."

CJ's office phone rang as she stared Josh down and a minute later Margaret walked through the door.

"The Secretary of State is on the line."

"Put him through," CJ said with a sigh. Josh turned to leave and CJ called after him. "We're not done, Josh. I still need to know about Houston."

People were so dumb sometimes. From her experience telling them the straightforward truth was the best form of tough love.


End file.
